Suspension comb for hand-operated knitting machines



May 17, 1955 E. PILTZ 2,708,355

SUSPENSION COMB FOR HAND-OPERATED KNITTING MACHINES Filed Aug. 51, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 E. PlLTZ May 17, 1955 SUSPENSION COMB FOR HAND-OPERATED KNITTING MACHINES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 31, 1953 United States Patent Gfiice Fatentecl May 17, 1955 SUSPENSION COMB FGR HAND-OPERATED KNITTENG MACIflNES Erich Piltz, l'viarkdorf, Baden, Germany, assignor to Willy Werner Lenkeit, Markdorf, Baden, Germany Application August 31, 1953, Serial No. 377,592 Claims priority, application Germany June 5, 1953 6 Claims. (Cl. 66-96) My inventirelates to implements for use in the production of knitted goods on hand-operated knitting machines of the known type which has a horizontal or about horizontal needle bed provided with a loop-forming comb, and in which knitting needles are arranged aside of each other, pass between the teeth of this comb and are operated by a lock moved perpendicularly to the longitudinal direction of the needles. Ordinarily, machines of this type can produce only fiat or uniformly knitted goods.

Objects of my invention are to make possible the use of these simple mach nes for the production of knittings in which rows of right stitches or knits alternate with rows of left stitches or purls, and of knittings which include holes or certain other designs, and to provide additional implement for this purpose which can be used without any change in the structure of the machine itself, which can be made inexpensively and which can be easily used, even by an unskilled person.

According to my invention, this implement constitutes a suspension comb comprising a bar or rail and suspension teeth arranged at distances which are equal to the distances of the knitting needles, or which are multiples of the needle distances. '1" ese teeth form double-walled hooks with closed tips, each book having two symmetricully shaped walls which are spaced except at the hook tip where the two walls unite. These teeth may be permanently or e/"l ngeably ailixed to the comb bar.

I have found t at a structure is advantageous in which the teeth or hooks extend from the bar perpendicularly to the same and have hooked ends curved parallel to each' other in the same di ection. Each hook wall, seen from its broad side, preterabiy forms a rectangle extending from the bar to the bend of the hook. From this bend, the hook wall tapers toward the hook tip.

Near bar, the space between the hook walls has preferably a l width about twice as large as the thickness of -ng needle. At a point between the bar and the hook bend, preferably nearer to the latter, the walls are symmetrically bent toward each other whereby the space between the walls is reduced near this bend. This reduced space is preferably about as wide as a needle shaft. From the bend to the tip of the hook, the walls converge so that, short before their united ends, they are only as far spaced as equals the width of the hook of a knitting needle.

The use of this suspension comb makes it easy to transfer the knitted fabric from the knitting needles to the teeth of the comb. The spaced walls of the doublehooks hold the meshes, against their tendency to contract, sutficiently open whereby the hooks of the knitting needles can pass through the meshes from either. side. Retransfer of the knitted fabric in reversed position to the knitting needles results in a reversal of the direction in which the rows of stitches are looped. A row of right meshes or knits made before is reversed to form purllike left stitches is followed by a row of knits made after the reversal so that knits and purls alternate. The large space betwee the hook walls near the bar facilitates the passage of the tting needles.

Further, the suspension comb may be used for transferring meshes c itches from the original needles to other needles. For example, if the suspension teeth are arranged at distances equal to a multiple of the needle distances, it possible to use the suspension comb for transferring meshes to neighboring needles and thereby 16 form holes in the knitted product.

In addition, it is possible to produce several designs by knitting one or more rows of stitches about the teeth oi the suspension comb in a manner that will be described later.

The suspension comb can be easily made by stamping out and bending pieces of sheet metal.

Other advantages and objects will appear from the following description of an exemplifying embodiment of my invention, from the appended claims and from the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of a broken off por- Lion of an illustrative embodiment of my invention.

Fig. 2 shows a partly sectional side view of parts of a hand-operated knitting machine with the suspension comb shown in Fig. l positioned for receiving meshes from the knitting needles.

Fig. 3 shows substantially the same as Fig. 2, except that the suspension comb is in Fig. 3 positioned for returning meshes to the needles in reversed position.

Fig. 4 shows a partly sectional side view of parts of a hand-operated knitting machine with the suspension comb shown in Fig. l positioned for knitting about the comb teeth.

Referring to the drawings, numeral 1 indicates the needle bed of a hand-operated knitting machine. A loopforming comb 2 is allixed to this bed and has teeth spaced by gaps for the passage of the horizontally bedded knitting needles 3 which have shafts 3a and hooks 3b. A lock l is movable in a horizontal direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the needles 3 and operates the needles in known manner.

A suspension comb 5 according to my invention coniprises a flat elongated body or bar 6 to which a row of suspension teeth 7 is affixed. Each tooth 7 forms a douhie-hook having two walls or fiat wall portions 7:: arranged with the fiat sides thereof substantially parallel to each other which unite at the hook tip 8, and may be made by bending a suitably shaped piece of sheet metal about the tip The foot ends of the teeth 7 enter the bar 6 at 9. The hooked, oppositeends of the teeth have bends 19. The walls 7:: are positioned symmetrically at the sides of a space 11 and are bent toward each other at 12.

In order to reverse the looping direction between the knitting of subsequent rows, the needles 3 are moved out-- ward so far that the meshes hanging on the needles slide behind the needle latches or tongues. Then, the, tips 3 of the comb 5 are hooked on the open hooks 3b of the n edles, the latter entering the space between the walls 7a. In this position shown in Fig. 2, the teeth 7 form a kind of continuation of the needles 3. Then the needles are withdrawn toward the bed whereby the needle tongues close and the meshes slide from the needles 3 on the teeth 7. Then the comb 5 is moved obliquely upward so that the teeth 7 are lifted out of the hooks 3b and that the knitted fabric is suspended on the bends 1% of the comb 5. The comb with the suspended fabric is then turned horizontally about one hundred and eighty degrees whereupon the teeth 7 are again hooked on'the needle hooks 3b in the position shown in Fig. 3. the comb 5 is turned in the direction which is counterclockwise in Fig. 3 about an axis extending along the lower ends of its teeth. After a turn of about ninety degrees, the suspended meshes drop from the teeth 7 to the re-opened needle hooks 3b, and the comb is dis-. engaged from the needles. Then the knitting may continue as usual.

In order to produce rows of holes, the teeth 7 must be arranged at distances which are at least twice as large as the distances of the knitting needles. Meshes are transferred from'knitting needles to comb teeth 7 in substantially the same manner as described before. Then the comb is moved parallel to the needle bed until the teeth 7 face needles neighboring the needles from which meshes have been transferred. Then the transferred meshes are dropped on these neighboring needles in substantially the same manner as described before.

in order to produce certain other designs, the follow- Then ing method may be used: The comb 5 is positioned as shown in Fig. 4 so that its teeth 7 point obliquely upward and toward the bed and that its hook tips 8 point away from the bed while the teeth of the loop-forming comb 2 pass through the spaces 11 of the comb 5. Then a row of stitches is knitted thereover by operation of the lock 4 whereupon the comb 5 is removed from the teeth of the comb 2 by a slight upward movement, and is left hanging down. At this stage, the uppermost stitches of the knittings are suspended in normal manner on the needles 3.while the so-called intermediate stitches engage the teeth 7 or the suspension comb 5; i

If this knitting about the suspension comb is made when the first row is knitted, an open start results. A closed start or a knitted fold can be thentproduced in the following manner: After knitting one or several further rows, the meshes suspended on the needles 3 are weighted, for example by means of an ordinary hooked comb. The intermediate meshes engaging the suspension cornb'5 are transferred to the hooks 3b of the knitting needles where they form additional or second meshes. Then the suspended meshes are knitted over.

The same method may be used at any later stage of the knitting. In this case, the knitting over the suspension comb and the transfer of the intermediate stitches to the needles3 results after the knitting of further rows in a thickened or re-inforced strip.

It appears from the foregoing that the described suspension comb facilitates the. production of rows of right stitches or knits and of left stitches or purls which rows may alternate in any desired manner, and also facilitates the production of several designs which hitherto could be made from the flat goods produced on hand-operated knitting machines only by cumbersome manual work taking much time.

I desire it understood that my invention is not confined to the particular embodiment shown and described, the

'same being merely illustrative, and that my invention may be carried out in other ways within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of my invention as it is obvious that the particular embodiment shown and described is only one of the many that may be employed to attain the objects of my invention.

Having described the nature of my invention, what I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. Suspension comb for hand-operated knitting machine.

having an about horizontal needle bed, a loop-forming comb afiixed to said bed, needles passing through said loop-forming comb, and a lock movable across the longitudinal direction of said needles and engaging the same operatively, said suspension comb comprising a bar, and

suspension teeth extending from said bar and being spaced from each other, each of said teeth including a pair of spaced flat wall portions arranged with the fiat sides thereof substantially parallel to each other and forming a hook,

4 said two spaced wall portions being united at the tip of the hook.

2. A hand-operated knitting machine comprising an about horizontal needle bed, a loop-forming comb 'afiixed to said bed, needles passing through said loop-forming comb, said needles being arranged at a predetermined distance from one another, a lock movable across the longitudinal direction of said needles and engaging the same operatively, and a suspension comb including a bar, and suspension teeth extending from said bar and being arranged at distances from each other equal to the distances between said needles, each of said teeth including a pair of spaced fiat wall portions arranged with the flat sides thereof substantially parallel to each other and forming a hook, said two spaced wall portions being united at the tip of the book.

3. A hand-operated knitting machine comprising an about horizontal needle bed, a loop-forming comb afllxed to said bed, needles passing through said loop-forming comb, said needles being arranged at a predetermined distance from one another, a lock movable across the longitudinal direction of said needles and engaging the same operatively, and a suspension comb including a bar, and suspension teeth extending from said bar and being ar-, ranged at distances from each other equal to a multiple of the distances between said needles, each of said teeth including a pair of spaced flat wall portions arranged with the fiat sides thereof substantially parallel to each other and forming a hook, said two spaced wall portions being united at the tip of the hook.

4. Suspension comb for a hand-operated knitting machine having an about horizontal needle bed, a loop-forming comb afiixed to said bed, needles passing through said loop-forming comb, and a lock movable across the longitudinal direction of said needles and engaging the same operatively, said suspension comb comprising a bar, and suspension teeth extending from said bar and being spaced from each other, each of said teeth including a pair of spaced fiat wall portions arranged with the fiat sides thereof substantially parallel to each other and forming athook, said two spaced wall portions being united at the tip of the hook, said hooks being parallel to each other and having bends curved. in the same direction, said walls extending in rectangular shape from said bar to said bends and having portions of gradually reducing Width extending 'from said bends to the hook tip.

5. Suspension comb for a hand-operated knitting machine having an about horizontal needle bed, a loop-forming comb aflixed to said bed, needles passing through said loop-forming comb, and a lock movable across the 1on gitudinal direction of said needles and engaging the same operatively, said suspension comb comprising a bar, and suspension teeth extending from said bar and being spaced from each other, each of said teeth forming a hook and having two spaced walls united at the tip of the hook, said as a needle shaft.

6. A hand-operated knitting machine comprising an about horizontal needle bed, a loop-forming comb aflined to said bed, needles passing through said loop-forming comb, said needles being arranged at a predetermined distance from one another, a lock movable across the longitudinal direction of said needles and engaging the same operatively, and a suspension comb including a bar and suspensiontcethextending from said bar and being arranged at distances from each other equal to the distances between said needles, each of said teeth including a pair of spaced flat wall portions arranged with the flat sides 7 thereof substantially parallel to eachother and forminga hook, said two spaced wall portions being united at the tip of the hook, the space betweentsaid flat wall portions References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,347,069 Albert Apr. 18, 1944 6 FOREIGN PATENTS Australia Feb. 13, 1933 Germany Jan. 6, 1903 Germany Mar. 14, 1912 

